BOMBS ROCK DAMASCUS

Two bomb blasts hit Damascus on Wednesday including a suicide attack at a central courthouse that left at least 30 dead, as Syria’s war entered its seventh year with the regime now claiming the upper hand.

A second bombing rocked the Syrian capital on Wednesday, just an hour after a suicide bombing targeted the Justice Palace in central Damascus which killed over 30 persons, state TV said. Preliminary information indicates that the second bombing in Rabweh, a restaurant-rich resort area in western Damascus, was carried out by either a suicide bomber or an explosive device, with the target still unknown.

A suicide bomber killed 30 persons in the earlier attack when he detonated his bomb vest inside the old Justice Palace building. At least 45 persons were injured in the courthouse bombing. The bomber was among the people who were waiting for checking to enter the building at noon time on Wednesday, reported Xinhua news agency. He was in camouflaged uniform, holding a rifle and a hand grenade, said the report, adding that once he handed over his weapons to the checkpoint police, he was asked for further inspection.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombings, the second wave of deadly attacks in the capital in less than a week after twin bombings on Saturday.

But they came with the rebels fighting President Bashar al-assad’s regime increasingly divided and dispirited after a series of battlefield setbacks.

Negotiations to end the conflict have meanwhile made little progress, with rebels this week declining to attend negotiations in Kazakhstan.

Wednesday’s first attack saw a suicide bomber rush inside the building and blow himself up when police tried to prevent him from entering the courthouse in the centre of Damascus, state media reported.

Citing a police source, state news agency SANA put the initial death toll at 25 and said there were many wounded.

A correspondent at the scene in the Hamidiyeh neighbourhood said security forces had cordoned off the area and roads leading to it were blocked as ambulances and firefighters rushed to the building.

“We were terrified because the sound of the explosion was enormous,” a lawyer in the building during the attack said.

“We took refuge in the library which is on a higher floor,” the lawyer said, speaking on condition of anonymity.